Specialty Species Sales Manager

Salary: $120,000 - $150,000

OVERVIEW

Seremoni is seeking an experienced Specialty Species Sales Manager to lead sales for an assigned portfolio of high-value species with strong ties to the Japanese culinary market. This is a P&L leadership role: the Manager owns the annual revenue and margin plan for the portfolio, sets channel strategy, and is accountable for growing the business across every channel where the portfolio commands value -- Japanese wholesalers and trading houses, specialty seafood distributors, foodservice/chef-direct accounts, and targeted retail partners.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership

• Build and own the annual sales plan for the specialty species portfolio

• Develop and own the multi-year growth strategy for the portfolio: new accounts, new geographies, and new channels where Seremoni's ike jime and traceability story commands a premium

• Define revenue and margin targets by channel and account, and course-correct proactively when a channel is off plan

Channel Strategy & Market Intelligence

• Own sales strategy for the specialty species

• Build and maintain a current view of supply, demand, and pricing dynamics for your species in each key channel

• Allocate supply to both channel and account to realize the greatest value

• Analyze weekly and monthly sales and margin reports across all channels to spot trends and market shifts -- from customer demand to competitor activity to your own portfolio mix -- and adjust strategy and tactics accordingly

Account Acquisition & Key Account Leadership

• Prospect, pitch, and close new accounts across relevant key channels

• Own executive-level relationships and contract negotiations for every account in the portfolio once secured

• Represent Seremoni's ike jime and traceability story directly to the buyers and chefs

• Represent Seremoni at industry trade shows, chef showcases, and headquarters-level buyer meetings across all channels

Account Management & Team Support

• Manage the full account lifecycle directly

• Maintain a disciplined personal pipeline and account-planning cadence given that account acquisition and retention both sit with you

• Foster a culture of product pride in every account relationship, ensuring buyers and chefs can speak fluently to Seremoni's quality story

Go-to-Market & Product Strategy

• Direct go-to-market execution for new species and product introductions with Marketing, QA, and Operations

• Partner with QA and Operations on species-specific handling, grading, and cold-chain standards well enough to sell against them credibly

• Translate customer feedback from distributors, chefs, wholesale buyers, and retail partners into packaging and spec recommendations

• Support new species introductions with a clear, channel-by-channel launch and allocation plan

Financial & Sales Operations

• Own the full P&L for your specialty species portfolio -- volume, revenue, margin, and trade spend

• Manage sales forecasting and demand-side allocation of available supply as needed to maximize the value for each species

• Maintain CRM and sales reporting systems to track account and channel-level performance

REQUIREMENTS

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field preferred; equivalent industry experience considered

• 7-10+ years of progressive seafood or specialty protein sales experience, including direct P&L or category ownership

• Demonstrated experience selling the same species or category across multiple channels (e.g., wholesale, distribution, foodservice, retail) simultaneously

• Direct experience selling to Japanese wholesalers or trading houses

• Track record of personally hunting and closing new accounts (not just managing an inherited book or a broker network) in a specialty/perishable protein category

Knowledge & Skills

• Deep knowledge of sushi-grade/specialty species quality grading, handling, and cold-chain requirements, sufficient to sell against them credibly

• Strong working knowledge of supply, demand, and pricing dynamics for Japanese-market species across wholesale, distribution, foodservice, and retail channels

• Ability to read shifting channel economics in real time and reallocate supply to wherever it earns the best return

• Strong hunter instincts and executive-level negotiation skills, comfortable pitching and closing net-new accounts without a broker network to lean on

• Comfort owning a multi-channel P&L including forecasting, trade spend, and margin management

• Proficiency with CRM and sales reporting tools; comfortable analyzing account- and channel-level performance data

• Existing relationships with Japanese wholesale buyers/trading houses, specialty distributors, and/or high-end foodservice or sushi restaurant accounts a major plus